Roberta Maxwell

Roberta Maxwell
Born
Roberta Farnham Maxwell

(1941-06-17) June 17, 1941 (age 84)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
OccupationActress
Years active1956–present

Roberta Farnham Maxwell (born June 17, 1941)[1] is a Canadian actress.

Biography

Maxwell began studying for the stage in her early teens. She joined John Clark for two years as the child co-host of his Junior Magazine series for CBC Television. She first performed at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 1956.[2]

She appeared as Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing, Lady Anne in Richard III, Olivia in Twelfth Night, and Anne in The Merry Wives of Windsor, before going on to England, where she spent three years in repertory. She made her West End debut with Robert Morley and Molly Picon in A Majority of One.

She first traveled to New York at age 19 in 1960. She debuted on Broadway in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1968, going on to five more plays with the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1974, she was back on Broadway playing the role of Jill in Equus, which starred Anthony Hopkins and Peter Firth.[3]

Maxwell played Lavinia Mannion (opposite Joan Hackett's Christine Mannion) in the 1978 PBS adaptation of Mourning Becomes Electra. In 1982, she starred as Rosalind in the Stratford Festival's stage production of Shakespeare's As You Like It, a production which was videotaped and telecast on Canadian television in 1983. In 2011, she played the duchess of York in Richard III[4] In 2009-10 she appeared in two episodes of the Syfy series Warehouse 13.[5]

Maxwell has also appeared in several noteworthy films including Rich Kids (1979), Popeye and The Changeling (both 1980), Psycho III (1986), Philadelphia (1993), Dead Man Walking (1995) and Brokeback Mountain (2005). Her performance in the 1998 independent Canadian dramady Last Night garnered Maxwell a nomination for a Genie Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1968A Great Big ThingEve
1979Rich KidsBarbara Peterfreund
1980The ChangelingEva Lingstrom
1980PopeyeNana Oyl
1986Psycho IIITracy Venable
1989KingsgateMarlene
1993PhiladelphiaJudge Tate
1995Dead Man WalkingLucille Poncelet
1997FallJoan Alterman
1997The PostmanIrene March
1998Last NightMrs. Wheeler
1999Water DamageDr. Winfrey
2001Full DisclosureSarah ArcherDirect-to-video
2005Brokeback MountainMrs. Twist, Jack's Mother
2007The Killing FloorMs. AlimetUncredited
2014Hungry HeartsAnne
2014What We HaveRosemary
2015Stranger in the HouseAlice
2015UnearthingMary Hart
2017Gwendolyn GreenGwendolyn GreenShort film
2020PercyLouise Schmeiser
2022This is HarrietBeatriceShort film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1957–1958Junior MagazineHerself / HostVarious episodes
1957FolioUnknownEpisode: "Peer Gynt"
1957, 1959, 1960, 1961 Encounter** / Marjorie / Kathryn Loring / Laurie / Stella Meredith / Helen / BettyEpisodes: "The Movie Star"; "Lady's Choice"; "The Room"; "The Oddball"; "The Watchers"; "The Touch of Light"; "Counsel for the Defense"
1960Just Mary(voice)
1962BBC Sunday-Night PlayCarolyn ClaybourneEpisode: "The Day Before Atlanta"
1962Emergency-Ward 10Nurse Merritt2 episodes
1965FestivalRia HennessyEpisode: "A Cheap Bunch of Nice Flowers"
1966Henry VUnknownTV movie
1974A Touch of the PoetSara MelodyTV movie
1974Great PerformancesClaraEpisode: "The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd"
1974Another WorldBarbara Weaver91 episodes
1976The Other Side of VictoryUnknownTV movie
1978For the RecordCarolEpisode: "A Matter of Choice"
1978Mourning Becomes ElectraLavinia MannonTV miniseries (four-part) – Episodes: "The Secret"; "The Homecoming"; "The Hunted"; "An Act of Justice"
1979The Other Side of VictoryNancy TurnerTV movie
1981Today's FBIPhyllis SlaterEpisode: "The Bureau"
1982Lois Gibbs and the Love CanalMary BelinskiTV movie
1982Faerie Tale TheatreGriselda / Queen BeatriceEpisode: "The Tale of the Frog Prince"
1983As You Like ItRosalindTV movie
1983Special BulletinDiane SilvermanTV movie
1984St. ElsewhereCat LadyEpisode: "Hello, Goodbye"
1986–1987AirwavesJean Lipton26 episodes
1988All My ChildrenNanny Judith1 episode
1989Great PerformancesMrs. WebbEpisode: "Our Town"
1989The EqualizerJustice Lindsey SmithEpisode: "Heart of Justice"
1989The HitchhikerMarybethEpisode: "The Dying Generation"
1996We the JuryLydia BoscoTV movie
1996MistrialJudge FrielTV movie
1997When Innocence Is LostCynthia AdamsTV movie
1997Liberty!Mercy Otis WarrenTV miniseries (six-part) – Episodes: "The Reluctant Revolutionaries"; "Blows Must Decide"; "The Times That Try Men's Souls"; "Oh Fatal Ambition!"
1998As the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez StoryDoeTV movie
1999Shadow LakeLouise GarveyTV movie
1999Too Rich: The Doris Duke StoryMyraTV movie
1999Forget Me NeverUnknownTV movie
1999Twice in a LifetimeEloise Hawke / Eileen KotterEpisode: "School's Out"
2000Law & OrderTeresa BrewsterEpisode: "Collision"
2000The Outer LimitsMrs. ReynoldsEpisode: "Inner Child"
2000Life in a DayCarla JenningsTV movie
2000The Dinosaur HunterAdult JuliaTV movie
2001What Makes a FamilyClaireTV movie
2002Scar TissueMora Carlisle-NevskyTV movie
2002Benjamin FranklinDeborah Read FranklinTV miniseries documentary (three-part) – Episodes: "Let the Experiment Be Made"; "The Making of a Revolutionary"; "The Chess Master"
2003The Atwood StoriesLoisEpisode: "Death by Landscape"
2004Gracie's ChoiceJudgeTV movie
2005Vinegar HillEllen's MotherTV movie
2005Riding the Bus with My SisterValerieTV movie
2005Queer as FolkMichael's LawyerEpisode: "5.3"
2006Booky Makes Her MarkAunt AggieTV movie
2006The Mermaid ChairNelleTV movie
2009–2010Warehouse 13Rebecca St. Clair2 episodes
2010Rookie BlueMarie D'AbramoEpisode: "Bullet Proof"
2014Theater TalkHerself / GuestEpisode: "Dick Cavett, Roberta Maxwell and Marcia Rodd on 'Hellman v. McCarthy'"
2017The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One FamilyPatricia GabrielTV miniseries (three-part) – Episodes: "Hungry"; "What Did You Expect?"; "Women of a Certain Age"

Theater

YearTitleRoleNotes
1958Two Gentlemen of VeronaUrsula
1968The Prime of Miss Jean BrodieVarious RolesUnderstudy: Sister Helena, Sandy
1968–1969The House of AtreusHandmaiden / Chorus
1968–1969The Resistible Rise of Arturo UiBetty Dullfeet
1969King Henry VIKatherine
1970OthelloDesdemona
1970Hay FeverSorel Bliss
1972There's One in Every MarriageLucienne
1973The Plough and the StarsNora Clitheroe
1973The Merchant of VeniceJessica
1974–1977EquusJill Mason
1977The MerchantPortia Contarini
1988–1989Our TownMrs. Webb
1996Summer and SmokeMrs. Winemiller
2015Indian InkEleanor SwanAmerican Conservatory Theater production
2016The Gabriels: Election Year In the Life of One Family (Hungry, What Did You Expect?, and Women of a Certain Age)Patricia GabrielPlay Cycle by Richard Nelson at The Public Theater

Awards and recognition

References

  1. ^ Lucas, Ralph (September 17, 2014). "Roberta Maxwell".
  2. ^ "A short trip for Roberta Maxwell". The Gazette. Montreal. March 21, 1986. p. D1. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  3. ^ Roberta Maxwell at the Internet Broadway Database
  4. ^ 1958 sound interview, Stratford, Ontario, cbc.ca; accessed March 30, 2018.
  5. ^ "Warehouse 13 (TV Series 2009–2014)", IMDb.com, retrieved May 8, 2020
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